


As the seconds tick by

by Halevetica



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Derek is a workaholic, Derek is an Architect, Established Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, M/M, Sort Of, Stiles and Peter are friends, Stiles feels neglected, stiles and Derek are married
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:28:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24725278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Halevetica/pseuds/Halevetica
Summary: When Derek picks up a new contract, he starts showing up late and missing important dates making Stiles feel unimportant. Derek is sure the contract is worth it, but Stiles doesn't understand why.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 14
Kudos: 540





	As the seconds tick by

The loud bustling of Stiles' friends and family in the other room couldn't overpower the ticking of the clock on his kitchen wall as he watched the secondhand tick by slowly. Over an hour late. Derek was over an hour late to his birthday party. Stiles had been planning this for months. Everyone was here, except Derek. Stiles would have been concerned if it wasn't for the brief and vague text he received from his husband stating he might be a bit late.

A bit late his ass. A bit late was fifteen or twenty minutes. Not an hour and nine minutes and twenty-one...two...three...Stiles drug his eyes away from the clock.

"Hey, what's the birthday boy doing sulking in the kitchen?" A voice asked, forcing Stiles' eyes up from where his hands were clasping an empty solo cup.

Stiles forced a smile as he saw Peter approach the table. "Just came to get another drink and..." he trailed off. He never could lie to Peter. He'd always been able to see right through him. The cocked brow told him he wasn't believing him now.

"I'm sure he didn't mean to be this late," Peter pulled out the chair opposite Stiles and took a seat.

"I don't understand why he's late at all," Stiles glanced back at the clock. One hour, ten minutes and thirteen...fourteen...fifteen.

"You know he just got that new contract. It's a big job," Peter offered.

"So he couldn't take one night off?" Stiles huffed, his eyes back on the empty cup in his hands.

Peter nodded, Stiles had him there. "Have you called him?"

Stiles shook his head as he glanced at his phone that sat silently next to him. "I figured if he had an update, he'd let me know."

"Maybe call him, let him know he's missed," Peter gave Stiles' shoulder a comforting squeeze before standing.

Just as he stepped away the door to the kitchen opened.

Stiles looked over to see Derek, with his phone pressed to his ear and him shuffling through a file, his briefcase tucked under one arm.

"I know that's the blueprint he likes best, but I'm telling you structurally that's not the smartest choice. Tell him to give me a few days and I'll give him something that works, that he likes..."

Stiles frowned. Derek was still working.

"I know that. I know that too. Look can we talk about this first thing in the morning, I just walked in my door and I have a house full of people." Derek huffed out in annoyance as he dropped the file on the counter.

Stiles watched as Derek tossed his phone down along with his briefcase and ran two hands through his hair in frustration. He didn't say a word.

When they finally locked eyes Derek's whole posture shifted, "Stiles," he sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Over an hour, Derek," Stiles responded simply. But Derek knew his husband well enough to know that he'd screwed up.

"I know, I didn't mean to be that late, I would have called but I was stuck on the phone and..." He didn't even bother to continue trying to defend himself when he saw the irritation on Stiles' face wasn't budging.

"It won't happen again, I promise," Derek stepped forward and leaned in for a kiss. Stiles turned his head slightly so that Derek was forced to only kiss his cheek.

Derek bowed his head in defeat. He clearly wasn't going to be so easily forgiven.

"Be honest with me, Derek, did you forget?" Stiles crossed his arms over his chest.

Derek frowned, "No, of course not, your gift is upstairs. I would never," he looked insulted.

Stiles nodded, feeling a little guilty for assuming Derek had forgotten his birthday. "Okay, don't let it happen again. Come on, everyone's waiting." He pulled Derek after him into the living room where their friends and family where indeed waiting.

-

Derek's promise lasted about two days. He was home exactly when he said he would be, however, he spent almost every moment on the phone or buried in his sketches for his client, so he hardly left his office.

Day three and four was when Derek started coming home late again, however Stiles almost preferred the silence of the house to the constant swearing coming from Derek's office.

Day five Stiles walked into the restaurant anxiously to see if he would be stood up. It was his and Derek's anniversary. He had never had to remind Derek of that sort of thing before and so he hadn't but now as he walked into the restaurant with high nerves, he wished he had.

However, much to his surprise, Derek was already there, waiting. A sigh fell from Stiles' lips as he neared to table where his husband was waiting.

"Hey," Stiles smiled.

Derek smiled up at him, but it didn't quite reach his eyes the way it normally did. "Happy anniversary," he pressed a kiss to Stiles' lips briefly.

"Are you alright?" Stiles asked, frowning at Derek.

"Yeah, why?"

"You look stressed," Stiles knew Derek. He'd always been good at reading people, but he was extra good at reading Derek.

"Things aren't going well with the job. We ran into a slight problem. There's a mineral in the dirt that they're digging in that-" Derek cut himself off. "It's not important."

"It clearly is, you're visibly upset about it," Stiles frowned.

"It just puts the job back a bit, I was hoping to be done with this by the end of the month," Derek ran a hand over his face.

"So more time away is what you're saying," Stiles quipped. He didn't want to start a fight, but he couldn't help it.

"Yeah, trust me, I'm no happier about it," Derek huffed out.

Stiles was about to respond with a snide remark, but their waiter approached then. It was probably for the best since it would surely have started a fight.

After the couple ordered, they managed to turn the conversation towards Scott and Allison's engagement and Boyd and Erica's newest addition. However, that turned the conversation slightly bleak. Stiles and Derek had been wanting to adopt for a while but finding an agency that would allow same sex couples to adopt were rare and expensive.

"Do you think it'll ever happen for us?" Stiles asked, pushing a crouton around his salad bowl.

"Of course it will, it's just taking a little time," Derek assured him.

"We don't even have half the fee saved up, it's so expensive," Stiles glanced up at Derek.

"Hey, you can't put a price on family," Derek's frown deepened. "I don't care what I have to do. I'm gonna make this happen for us."

Stiles only nodded, his eyes falling back to his food. He knew Derek had wanted a big family. He grew up with one before an accidental fire took his parents and his younger brother. Now all he had was his uncle Peter and two sisters, Cora and Laura. Laura and Peter were practically siblings with how close they were in age, so they had helped raise Cora and Derek after the accident.

Stiles only had his dad. His mom had died when he was only eight. But he had always been fascinated with the idea of having a big family. He saw the pain and determination on Derek's face anytime they talked to an agency about adoption. Even now he saw it.

At that moment Derek's phone rang pulling Stiles from his thoughts.

"Oh shit," Derek sighed down at the name.

"What?"

"It's my client. I'm sorry, I've really got to take this. It's probably about the problem with-"

"It's fine," Stiles waved a hand, trying to stamp down the disappointment.

"Hello?" Derek answered as he pushed away from the table. "Mr. Van Dyne, what can I do for you?"

Stiles sighed as he pushed the crouton around his bowl some more, waiting for Derek to come back in. He glanced at the clock on the wall the large roman numerals were framed in black iron. The second hand ticked by, but he couldn't hear the rhythmic thrum as it circled around.

"Would you like a few boxes to go?" The waiter asked then, startling Stiles from his hypnotic state.

"Oh, umm," Stiles glanced over at Derek's half eaten food and then towards the door Derek had disappeared out of. "Sure."

He didn't know when Derek would be back and according to the clock it had somehow already been ten minutes.

Stiles continued to watch the clock. Eleven minutes now and one...two...three...

Dropping his eyes Stiles pulled out his wallet just as the waiter returned, "I'll take the check as well."

"Of course, I'll get that right out for you."

By the time Stiles had paid and packed up the remaining food, it had been almost twenty minutes. Stiles was livid to say the least.

When he stepped out of the restaurant, he didn't even see Derek. Had he left?

Stiles scanned the parking garage as he made his way to his car and saw Derek's car with him inside, still on the phone, papers strewn about his lap.

Stiles decided not to even bother. Instead he sent Derek a text that simply said, 'see you at home' before climbing in his car and leaving.

When he got home, he put the leftovers in the fridge and kicked off his shoes. As he made his way up the stairs his phone rang. He pulled it out to see Derek's name.

He debated answering it but he really didn't want to, so he let it go to voicemail. He stripped his over shirt off just as it pinged with a message. With a sigh he pressed play.

"Stiles, I'm so sorry, this job has gone...it doesn't matter, but I just need you to know that I'm really sorry. I didn't realize how long I'd been on the phone. I know it's late, but I'm gonna go meet Lukas at the office for an hour or two to see if we can't remedy this problem. I assume you are already in bed. I promise this is all gonna be worth it when it's over. I love you, Stiles."

When the message ended a tear fell from Stiles cheek and he realized he was crying.

He didn't know what to do. He hated this. He felt so...unimportant to Derek. He'd never felt that way in his life. They had been married for three years and he'd never felt like this. What had changed?

He considered calling Scott, but he knew that he and Allison had been doing wedding planning all day. Erica and Boyd had enough to deal with, with the new baby.

Peter would know. Peter knew Derek better than anyone except maybe Laura. But Stiles had always been closer with Peter.

Stiles dialed Peter's number, not even bothering to hide the tears in his voice.

"Stiles?" Peter's concerned tone answered.

"Peter, hey, you got a second?" Stiles asked quietly.

"Of course, what's wrong?"

"It's Derek, he...he's been...I don't think he loves me anymore," Stiles sniffed, as the tears fell more freely now. Saying it out loud was different than thinking it to yourself.

"Whoa, whoa, what are you talking about?"

"He's always working late and...and..."

"Stiles, I promise Derek's not cheating on you," Peter assured Stiles.

"No, I know that. He's actually working, but I'm just...I'm not a priority anymore. He was late to my birthday and then when he is home, he's always on the phone with work and then he left dinner early tonight to take a call and he never came back. I found him sitting in his car working. Then he went to the office and I just..." Stiles broke down into a sob.

"Stiles, listen to me. I can't imagine how you must feel right now, but I know Derek loves you. You mean the world to him. This job is just really stressful, and you know he likes to do his job right. He got into architecture because the way the building that caught fire was structured; it trapped our family. He refuses to let something like that happen. Don't take this personal, Stiles. I promise you; he's trying his best. And maybe talk to him about it. Find out when he'll be home tomorrow. Have dinner in and tell him what you told me. I know he would be a wreck if he knew you thought he didn't love you."

Stiles nodded. He knew Peter was right. He wasn't thinking logically. "Okay, thank you."

"Do you need some company?" Peter offered gently.

"No, I think I'm just gonna get some sleep."

"Okay, call me if you need me."

"Thank you, Peter."

Stiles felt a little better. He should have considered that Derek took all his work problems to the extreme because of his family. He would never forgive himself if something happened to someone because of a mistake he made.

Stiles went to bed that night prepared to give Derek the benefit of the doubt. He would forgive him for tonight and wait a few days for the problem to settle and then have a nice dinner in. Stiles would make Derek's favorite dinner and they would talk about how Stiles felt. Maybe they could come to a compromise.

-

Four days is how long is took for Derek to finally gets things 'under control' as he claimed, so Stiles felt it was safe to do dinner the next night.

He text Derek to make sure he would be home at a decent hour, as the other nights had been late nights. Derek said he'd be home by no later than seven thirty. He promised.

Stiles, just to be on the safe side was planning to have dinner ready by eight.

He got off work an hour early so he could swing by the store and pick up the ingredients he needed. Peter had taught Stiles how to make this dish for his and Derek's first anniversary. Prosciutto wrapped pork tenderloin in a fig sauce with garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus. It was a dish Derek's mother used to make and was one of Derek's favorites. Stiles wasn't the greatest cook, but this was one thing he could cook with his eyes closed. He only did it for special occasions or when he knew Derek really needed a pick me up. He couldn't wait to surprise Derek with it.

Stiles had everything ready at ten til eight and there was still no sign of Derek. Stiles tried not to get discouraged yet, he'd planned for Derek to be a bit late.

Stiles waited til eight before setting the table up nicely with candles and fixing up two plates. He set out two glasses of wine and took a seat. Derek would be home any time; he was sure of it.

At fifteen after he was getting frustrated, checking his phone every few minutes.

At thirty after eight he was starving and decided to eat as his food was already getting cold. He watched the clock above Derek's chair as he ate alone.

The silence allowed for the soft ticking of the second hand to sound like it was in his head. Tick. Tick. Tick. As each second passed him by. One...Two...Three...

Finally, he slammed his fork down. It was nearly nine. He was on his second glass of wine and his plate was almost empty. How long was he going to sit here and count away the minutes until Derek showed up? How long was he going to count his life away? That seemed to be all he did lately was count the seconds by. He had become so hyper aware of every clock in existence. There was one in every room of the house.

Stiles grit his teeth as the ticking sound persisted in his ears. He pushed away from the table and snatched the clock off the wall, ripping out the nail with it. He stomped his way towards the kitchen trash and slammed the clock inside.

When he closed it, the tears finally spilled over. He knew it wasn't the clock's fault but he hated it. He hated how the seconds ticked by, taunting him.

Stiles didn't even bother cleaning up he simply put away the leftovers and headed up the stairs.

-

At nearly ten thirty Derek pushed open the door to the kitchen to see the dishes were unwashed in the sink. That was odd. Stiles hated dishes in the sink.

"Stiles?" Derek called out.

No answer.

Derek peered into the dining room to see the dining table set for two. At Stiles chair sat a dirty plate and a half drank glass of wine with an empty wine bottle next to it. On the other side was a plate with Derek's favorite dish. His heart dropped. In the middle of the table were two candles still lit and burning away at the wax for who knows how long.

Derek's shoulders slumped. That's why Stiles had been asking him when he'd be home and double checking.

He noticed then above his chair, where the clock usually hung, the wall was empty.

A sinking feeling in Derek's stomach let him know that he once again had screwed up.

He made his way up the stairs to find Stiles asleep in their bed, a box of tissues on his side table and a tissue clasped tightly in his hand.

Derek dropped his head. He couldn't wait for this job to be over.

-

Derek unfortunately was up and gone before Stiles was the next morning, but he made a promise that he would be home early the next night no matter what. He owed it to Stiles.

Work was much calmer and he was sure he only had a few more days until he was done with the job. A week tops. He told Lukas multiple times that he was leaving at five.

He practiced the whole way home what he would say to make up for the night before. He didn't even know how to begin. He pulled into the driveway and knew he just had to hope that Stiles would forgive him.

He made his way inside. "Stiles?" He called out. Stiles' car had been in the driveway.

He made his way towards the stairs when he saw three bags lined up outside of his office, his door was cracked.

Stiles appeared in the doorway then with a piece of paper and pen in his hand, tears in his eyes.

"Derek?"

"Stiles?" Derek frowned, stepping towards his husband. "What's wrong."

"I didn't expect you home so soon," Stiles wiped at a stray tear with the hand holding the pen. "I was..." he lifted the paper and trailed off.

Derek took the paper seeing that Stiles was too upset to speak.

It read:

'Derek, I put this note in your office so you'll see it. I'm sure if I put it anywhere else, it will take you days to even notice I'm gone.'

Derek looked up at Stiles with confused eyes before turning back to the note.

'I'm sorry that this is happening. I wish I knew why. I wanted to ask you last night, but I never got the chance. I realized while waiting for you to come home that I can't keep waiting. It's all I seem to do is wait to see if you'll come home or not. The answer is usually not and yet I still hold out hope. It's too hard. I hope you can understand.'

Derek looked up from the unfinished letter. "Stiles, please tell me you aren't leaving me," he pleaded.

"What else am I supposed to do, Derek?" Stiles snapped.

"Talk to me. We can work this out," His tone was still pleading.

"I tried, but you're never home," Stiles threw his hands up. The tears had stopped for the moment.

"So your next step is divorce?" Derek scoffed at the idea like it personally offended him, which it technically did.

"I never said anything about divorce, Derek. I just need time away to think and..."

"Why? So you can consider a divorce? No," Derek wasn't going to let Stiles go that easily.

"Do you even care?" Stiles demanded.

Derek looked taken a back by the question. How could Stiles ask something like that.

"Of course I care, Stiles. You're my husband. I love you."

"You have a funny way of showing it." Stiles snorted in response.

Derek closed his eyes and dropped his head. "I know I screwed up last night and I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but leaving? Really, Stiles?"

"Last night?" Stiles gaped at Derek, "you're kidding me, right? What about my birthday? Or our anniversary? Or the fact that you've hardly been home the past few weeks? This isn't a one time spur of the moment thing."

Derek sighed, "It's this job."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"No. It's supposed to make you understand," Derek bowed his head. "I almost didn't take this job cause I knew the strain it would put on us."

"Then why take it?"

"Cause I thought it'd be worth it."

"Is it?" Stiles snapped.

"Not if I lose you. Then there's no point. The job's useless," Derek's tone was defeated.

Stiles frowned, "What? What do you mean the job's useless?"

Derek stepped by Stiles, further into his office. He opened a desk drawer and pulled out a folder with a few sheets of paper. He handed one specifically to Stiles.

"This is my contract with Mr. Van Dyne. That is the quote given. If we complete this job. This number here," Derek pointed to a number at the bottom of the page, "Is my cut."

Stiles' mouth dropped open and his eyes widened.

"That's just over the rest of amount we need for the adopted fee. If I get this right, we could finally start our family. That's why I took it. That's why I've been bending over backwards for this asshole. I've been doing it for us."

Stiles swallowed, glancing up at Derek with a new set of tears in his eyes, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Derek sighed, "I wanted to surprise you. As a late birthday, anniversary present. But things haven't gone exactly to plan."

"Derek," Stiles set the paper back into the file and grabbed Derek's hands in his. "I know how bad you want a big family, but you can't do things like this every time we want to adopt."

"I know, I didn't know it would be this bad. And I definitely didn't know it would risk me losing you. Nothing is worth that. Without you, I have nothing. You are my family. And if it's between you or this contract then I'll drop the contract," Derek gripped Stiles' hands desperately.

"What? God, no, you've come this far, shit. You might as well see it through," Stiles scoffed.

Derek gave a snorted laugh. "I still have like a week left."

"I'll just have to make myself very busy this week," Stiles gave a small smile.

"So you won't leave?" Derek looked hopeful.

"I just wanted to know what was going on. Why you were choosing work over me? I couldn't understand it. I thought you didn't care anymore. I love you, Derek, and I love what you're willing do to for us. Next time though, maybe just tell me what you're planning."

"Okay, yeah, that's probably for the best." Derek nodded.

Stiles pressed a kiss to Derek's lips then. The last few weeks had been hell and the next week might also be hell but Derek was right, you couldn't put a price on family.


End file.
